Child's Play
by Hyuchiha Ruki
Summary: Staring at the eyes of the heavens didn’t offer much comfort to Ino. With every passing hour to be just as dull and heartbreaking as the last and next, no one can tell the difference between the days anymore. Sequel to 'So Be It'. ShikaIno one-shot


**The sequel to 'So Be It' is here! Consequently, I keep my promises (most of the time).**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. **

**Note: I recommend you guys to listen to 'Fall For You' by the Secondhand Serenade while reading this fic.**

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_She loves stars as how you love clouds…_

"Mama!" the tiny child pointed at the dotted cape above Konoha, "Mama! Mama!" Hotaru stretched her short arms into the air, hoping to grasp at least a foot of a twinkle. Almost desperate, the toddler hopped, crunching blades of grass under her feet. The persuasion and strong will in her eyes glowed brighter than the moon, or maybe perhaps it was because the moon glowed for her.

Ino snapped out of her silent thoughts and turned to her daughter, who has glued everything about her into catching a star. "Hotaru," Ino murmured as she pushed herself from the seesaw and made her way to her little girl, "That's a star. You like stars, don't you?" With that, she picked the blond babe up and watched as the girl continued to look back at the celestial bodies.

"I want, I want!" her chant was as mischievous as the midsummer night, "I want star!" Like a fish out of water, she squirmed in her mother's arms, doing what she can to fly to the night sky. Ino, in some weird way, understood the longing her child felt. It was a longing for the impossible and for the unattainable. A longing everyone is familiar with.

_She loves to stay in the playground as how we used to when we were young…_

Knowing what to do, Ino scooped her baby deeper into her arms and sympathized with her, saying, "Now, you can't take those stars, sweetie." Ino shook her head gently, not the least in a reprimanding manner, "If we take those stars, the moon will be very lonely up there. That'd be quite a shame, right?" The child only nodded. Her mother seemed very much correct.

Once she had gotten Hotaru's full attention, she brought her dress-clad daughter towards the water edge of the pond nearby, listening to the harmonious chorus of frogs and the nearly dead silent croon of the cicadas. Ino peered down at the surface, smiling at the reflection that seemed to greet her on the other side. Oddly, she swears she can see his smile on the fluid glass, grinning back at her…

_She won't get off the swing. Reminds me of you…_

"Stars!" Hotaru squealed at sight of the illuminated dots from the sky. Indeed, it was as if they had fallen onto the waters for the both of them. "Mama, stars! Lots!" She clapped her stubby hands as Ino faintly settled herself at the edge, careful not to get her skirt wet at all. Hotaru pushed herself from her mother's hold and took her place in front of Ino, nearer to the stars' mirror.

When she saw that Hotaru seemed more hesitant than gleeful, Ino reassured her, "Those stars are like those in the sky. Only, these are alright to get, because they're just the babies of those in the sky," She gave her child a pat on the head before concluding, "If you ever catch any of the stars in the pond without getting anything but your hand wet, remember to make a wish."

Hotaru merely nodded fervently before she decisively dipped her minute hand into the soothing water, shattering the mirror with ripples. She proceeded to 'catch' the stars, giggling at the thought of free wishes and childish desires coming true with every star she gets a hold of.

_She's 'catching stars' in the same pond we once waddled in…_

Ino decided not to dwell by a chain of a memoir for any longer and took few steps back to the seesaw she always cherished sitting on. It'd be only a short distance from the pond, so she found it no less than sensible to watch Hotaru from there. So, with a creak and a whine from the hinges, Ino returned to her seat on the left side of the seesaw. She snickered at the thought of seeing Shikamaru on the other end again…

_I, on the other hand, am wondering if you still remember the seesaw we always abused…_

Staring at the eyes of the heavens didn't offer much comfort to Ino. For days, she hasn't seen Shikamaru. Truthfully, it has been months. But with every passing hour to be just as dull and heartbreaking as the last and next, no one can tell the difference between the days anymore. Noticing the stars before anything else was predictable, but noticing how they didn't sparkle tonight was something new.

Echoing splashes from the direction of the pond didn't disturb her as much as she thought it would. Preoccupied with wearing away, Ino wasn't very sure of herself anymore. Losing confidence in herself was the worst rush she had ever gone through, yet only second to losing everyone. Asuma had not lived long enough to find her pregnant. God knows where Choji is. Sai is on a mission, and Ino doubts that he'll com home to them after that.

And she had started to wonder if even Shikamaru had decided to desert someone as _troublesome _as her.

_All in all, I'm still wondering if you still remember how to make a wish on a star…_

Ino pursed her eyes shut, breathing a prayer with her sigh. The stars didn't take her request and nor did the pale midnight sun. No one, not even the black-brushed clouds, would have the initiative to take a torn, single mother's prayer.

She can't forget how her father taught her of how to make wishes on stars, and how she taught Shikamaru many, many years ago. And, just a few minutes ago, she had taught her own daughter how to have faith in what might never be reliable. Making wishes on stars was one of the most illogical things to do, Shikamaru might've said, but he bought the idea anyway.

"Mama!"

_If you still do, remember to make a wish for me, too…_

She flicked her eyes wide open, still blurred from a tight purse. "Yes, Hotaru?" she acknowledged her daughter's call, turning to her to welcome the cherub. But, to her surprise, Hotaru had a scoop of pond water in her hands, vigilantly handled with care. The child was so chary, she kept her distance from her mother as if she was a bull in a china shop.

"Make a wish, Mama." Hotaru whispered, holding out the handful of clear water in her hand. The dripping droplets resembled the tears of shooting stars as the color of Hotaru's pale palm floated in the tiny pool, becoming like grains and strand in a flood. Ino didn't have to think of her next move. She made a quiet wish, then cracked her lips into a beam.

Hotaru looked eagerly at the now starless waters in her reach and eagerly questioned her mother lovingly, "Mama, what your wish?" Her incomplete sentence seemed fulfilled with her toothless grin. Ino laughed warmly before she replied.

"I just wished for Daddy to come back home." Ino told her daughter with all honesty, "He better come back soon."

…_Because I made my wish for you, Shikamaru. You are more than welcome to come back home…_

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

Typically a lonely soul with empty pockets and a worthless shadow. He'd be off to a mission right now, if he had the heart to waste his life and rish it senselessly. Instead of battling with foreigners with kunai and justu, he preferred to face an interpersonal battle with logic.

He couldn't pass the playground by without making a sour face and stepping into the premises. The scent was too familiar.

And so, he took hold of right seat and balanced it before taking his seat. It was his seat. Always been that way. It's just a shame that he hasn't got anyone to share it with. At least, not anymore.

Shikamaru took advantage of the still stars. Such beautiful things to come out at a time when the whole world (excluding him for now) had fallen into their own slumbers, into their own worlds. It was either selfish of them or modest of them to keep other eyes from admiring their capabilities and power. He just had to consider himself lucky for now.

Shikamaru closed his eyes… and decided to make a wish, too…

He will never forget how it's done.


End file.
